computer science

Wikirating

Wikirating is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wikirating rather than just read about it. In short: Wikirating was a free, collaborative platform for credit ratings that aims to provide a transparent source for credit ratings of countries, companies and structured products. It is the first independent rating platform mainly based on community's contributions to feed data and information to establish independent, impartial and transparent ratings.

Key takeaways

Wikirating belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wikirating to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wikirating from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wikirating was a free, collaborative platform for credit ratings that aims to provide a transparent source for credit ratings of countries, companies and structured products. It is the first independent rating platform mainly based on community's contributions to feed data and information to establish independent, impartial and transparent ratings.

History Development of the platform started in spring 2010 by Austrian mathematician Dorian Credé and his colleague Erwan Salembier. The platform, which is based on the MediaWiki framework, went online in October 2011. By the end of 2011, around 2100 users had contributed ratings. In February 2012 Salembier left Wikirating, and in November 2012 the US not-for-profit rating provider Public Sector Credit Solutions published its open-source framework on the platform.

Rating scheme Wikirating uses a similar rating scheme as traditional credit rating agencies, ranging from "AAA" (highest rating) to "D" (default).

Rating methods The platform offers three rating methods.

Public Sector Credit Framework

Poll method Wikirating users can vote on the rating of each country or company. Voting is limited to one vote each to prevent manipulation.

Sovereign Wikirating Index The Sovereign Wikirating Index (SWI) contains a transparent formula that takes into account various factors, believed to influence the creditworthiness of nations. As of October 2013, the SWI contains the following five criteria (with weights):

Public debt (in % of the GDP) — 50% weight Account balance (in % of the GDP) — 20% weight GDP growth rate — 10% weight Inflation rate — 10% weight Unemployment rate — 10% weight The resulting value is adjusted by multiplying it with a "scaling factor", which is composed by the Human Development Index (HDI) (60% weight) and the Corruption Perceptions Index (40% weight).

Calculations Each criterion is calibrated with respect to the relative minimum and maximum value of all countries. For all criteria, a threshold value is defined in order to avoid distorted values. The calculated values are done with a spreadsheet. The founders hope to engage the community to further improve the formula in order to provide optimal ratings.

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wikirating

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wikirating claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wikirating before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wikirating ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wikirating

In research: Wikirating appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wikirating in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wikirating is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Collaborative projects, Creative Commons-licensed websites, Credit rating agencies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wikirating outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wikirating in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wikirating means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wikirating out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wikirating in simple terms?

Why does Wikirating matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wikirating?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wikirating.